


The Cordé Initiative

by fansofcollisions



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Crack, Daisuga Week, First Kiss, Humor, Love Confessions, M/M, Prompt: Confession, a little bit of, tanaka's just trying to be helpful
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-31
Updated: 2014-08-31
Packaged: 2018-02-15 13:43:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,019
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2231196
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fansofcollisions/pseuds/fansofcollisions
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“It’ll work perfectly! Trust me!”</p>
<p>Those words alone should have been enough warning.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Cordé Initiative

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Daisuga Week, Day 2. Prompt: Confession. 
> 
> I had an outrageous amount of fun writing this :)

The first time was on a Tuesday. Daichi stood against the wall of the gym, watching his teammates rally over the net. He took mental notes of Tadashi’s improved form, the stiffness in Kageyama’s knees, a sloppy receive from Tsukishima. They had a practice game on the weekend and he needed everyone in top shape.

His concentration was broken by a light tap on his shoulder.

“Huh?”

Tanaka stood by his side. It would be more accurate to say _teetered_ : he bounced from heel to ball to tiptoe, peering at Daichi with a disturbing glint in his eye.

“Captain,” he purred, slinging his arm around Daichi’s shoulder. “Could I have a word?”

Daichi shrugged him off, but Tanaka grabbed his wrist instead, pulling him away from the wall.

“Everyone!” he shouted, loud enough to make Daichi’s ear ache. A thud and a faint _ooww!_ were the last sounds heard before the gym quieted. Every player, and even a startled Kiyoko in the corner turned to look.

“What are you doing?” Daichi hissed. He wasn’t angry, per se, but he also wasn’t pleased. It was crunch time. They needed to concentrate.

Tanaka pulled him towards the net and the team gathered around them in a half circle. Daichi glanced at his friends, hoping for some sort of explanation. But most of the players stared back at him, just as curious. Only Suga avoided his eyes.

“Sawamura-san.” Tanaka spoke as if he were bearing a grand announcement from some ruler or king. To punctuate the image, he swept into an illustrious bow and dropped to one knee. “I wondered if you would take me to dinner some night?” He held out his palm, grinning.

Absolute silence fell. Hinata’s mouth dropped into a small _o_ , his eyes wide and glassy. Tsukishima had a hand over his lips. Suga turned beet red and looked down at the ground.

“Umm…” he said. His brain couldn’t quite comprehend what was happening just now. “I get you dinner all the time?” His voice gained confidence as he thought more carefully. “I got you pork buns just last night. How greedy are you?”

Tanaka looked at him, smile still fixed on his face, hand outstretched, for a few moments. _Shit. I’ve misread this._

Tsukishima broke the silence with a loud snort. Tadashi glanced at his friend and then started giggling as well. Tanaka drew his hand back and sprung to his feet, fixed smiled erased and cheery expression recovered.

“Very true!” he crowed, hands on his hips. “I appreciate your generosity.”

With the awkwardness broken the whole gym burst into laughter, Daichi included, though he was still more confused than anything.

The only one without a smile was Suga.

\---

The second time was during a conditioning run. Himself, Suga, Asahi and Tanaka were labouring up a particularly tiring hill when Tanaka fell to his knees, gasping. Daichi ran back, worry quickening his feet despite his exhaustion. The last thing he needed was a starter to injure themselves two days before a match.

“Are you alright?” he asked, placing a hand on Tanaka’s heaving shoulder.

“Y-yes,” Tanaka gasped out. “Though…” and suddenly all traces of exertion disappeared from his voice, replaced with a devilish sort of accent. “My undying love for you would only grow stronger if you’d carry me the rest of the way.”

“You’re not that tired,” Daichi said flatly, pulling Tanaka to his feet. “Stop fooling around.”

“But,” cried Tanaka, “Don’t you want to hear of my undying love?”

Daichi grunted. He’d rather be back in his bed or swimming in a lake or doing pretty much anything than listening to Tanaka whine. “No, I don’t.”

“But isn’t the idea of rescuing your lover when they’ve swooned so romantic?” he asked desperately.

Daichi turned slowly to look at Tanaka. “... What?”

Tanaka at least had the good grace to look frightened at his glare. He had been starting to worry he was losing his touch.

“Nothing!” he chirped, face red-tinged through the sweat, and sprinted back up to where Suga and Asahi were waiting. Asahi’s eyes kept darting between the three of them, his mouth drawn into a concerned frown.

Daichi gritted his teeth. _What’s with this guy lately?_

\---

The third, fourth, fifth, and sixth times were pasted on his locker, stuffed in his notebag, tucked into his shoes, and baked into a hollow cupcake respectively. (At least, he assumed the last was a confession. The paper was rather saturated in chocolate.) He threw them all away, more flustered each time. Tanaka couldn’t be serious. He _couldn’t_ be.

_Could he?_

\---

The seventh, and final, time was only minutes before the match began. Daichi stood by the doorway to the gym, trying not to wring his hands as he watched the expert way their opponents slid into their receives. They were going to have trouble here, he could sense it.

The rest of the team waited anxiously behind him for the signal to step into the battle zone. All except Tanaka, who was rummaging in his bag for something. He resisted the urge to yell at him to hurry up.

Finally, Tanaka joined the group, his hands clenched behind his back. Just before Daichi was ready to start their march, he called out.

“Captain!” He ran up and thrust the content of his hidden trove in Daichi’s face. The sickly sweet smell of lilacs assaulted his nostrils. “I hope you’ll accept thes-”

“ENOUGH!” he roared. Tanaka stumbled backwards, nearly dropping the bundle of flowers. Suga rushed forward and put a hand on Daichi’s arm. Always there to keep him focused. It calmed him slightly, but he could feel the stress mounting into an unbearable headache.

“This is _not the time_ , Tanaka. We’ll talk after the game, but for now, I need _everyone_ here to be focussing on volleyball. Nothing else matters when we’re on the court. Alright?”

Tanaka nodded his head vigorously. A few team members pumped their fists in the air, grinning. The rest were fidgeting or whispering behind their hands to each other. It would have to do. “Alright,” Daichi said. “Let’s go win this.”

\---

“Where is he?” Daichi asked wearily. It had been a tough game; a victory, but only just. He wanted to go home and analyse everything they’d done thoroughly, searching for the weaknesses he knew they could correct before the next match if he sussed them out. But there was still _this_ to deal with, and his team couldn’t function at their best until all its members were on the same page.

Nishinoya jerked his shoulder towards the changing room. Daichi sighed, mustering the courage and finally shoving the door open.

The first row of lockers were empty, and the lights were out at the end of the hall to the bathroom stalls. When he stepped to the second row, the only person he could see was Tanaka sitting on the bench, pulling on his sneakers. He cleared his throat and Tanaka looked up.

“Look… Tanaka.” How could he break this gently? He’d never had to rebuff someone’s affections before. He had no idea how to do it. He hadn’t expected to ever need to. His responsibilities to the club kept him so busy that he barely even spoke to anyone but his teammates these days. Daichi had been content to graduate having never received, let alone accepted, a single confession. He knew most boys dreamed of coming to school to find pink notes slipped into their lockers, but honestly? His friends were more than enough for him.

“Sorry,” Tanaka said, standing. He raised his eyes to Daichi’s; they were the most serious he’d ever seen them outside of a match. “I took this too far.”

“I don’t-” Think about you in that way? What was a kind way to say that? “You and me-”

“It’s ok.” Daichi whirled as a new voice interrupted his fumbled speech.

Suga stood, half eclipsed in darkness, in the junction between the lockers and the door. “Thanks,” he said, looking past Daichi at Tanaka, “But I’ve got it from here.”

Tanaka let out a relieved sigh and bounded past Suga. “Hey-!” Daichi called after him, but the door slammed and they were alone.

“I need to take care of this, Suga,” he said helplessly after the echo of the door faded. “I can’t just let him suffer, thinking there’s a chance.”

Suga laughed: a torn sound, like it was forced out through barbed wire. “It’s fine.”

“It’s not.”

“It _is_ ,” Suga insisted.

Daichi looked at him. In the quasi-darkness, it was hard to tell, but Suga’s face seemed drawn, his eyes solemn and tired. “What’s wrong?” It was hard not to notice when something was bothering your best friend.

Instead of answering, Suga took a step towards him, and another, until they were standing shoulder to shoulder, facing opposite directions. Daichi turned his head and saw that Suga was staring with a determined gaze at the blank wall.

“I shouldn’t have listened, but I wanted…”

“What?”

“I wanted this to be perfect.” He smiled, dropping his eyes to the floor. “But I think I messed it up even more.”

Suga turned to look at Daichi, his eyes shining. “I should have done it my own way from the start.”

And then something soft brushed against his mouth. On instinct he closed his eyes, too numb with surprise to do anything but savour the feeling of another’s lips against his own. When he opened them, Suga was squeezing his palms at his sides, staring nervously. Daichi stared right back. He couldn’t think of a thing to say.

“I’ve liked you for a long time,” Suga admitted. “But I never knew how to tell you. Tanaka said he’d test out different ways, to see what you might like, but it all backfired.” He laughed again, but the sound warbled. “I get that this is weird, and I… I understand if you don’t feel the same, but I wanted you to know.”

He turned around and took a step towards the doorway. Desperately Daichi threw his hand out and grabbed his arm, pulling him back.

“Wha- _oomph!_ ” Suga’s startled cry was muffled as his face was pressed into Daichi’s chest. He squeezed his arms around him as tight as he could until Suga stopped shivering and began to relax into the hug.

They stood like this for as long as Daichi could hold out, but soon a chuckle burst out of his throat, and then another, until his entire body shook with the force of his laughter. Suga pulled away, but before the hurt can manifest on his face Daichi grabbed his hand and pulled him in for another kiss.

Daichi couldn’t contain his grin and their teeth clacked paintfully, but that was alright. He pulled away and pecked Suga’s lips and laughed again.

“I was so _afraid!_ ” Suga looked at him, hesitant. “You have no _idea…_ What was I supposed to say to him?” Slowly his mouth split into a grin, and then Suga started to laugh as well.

“I’m sorry to put you through that. If it helps, I asked him not to. Repeatedly.”

Daichi couldn’t even muster a response, he was laughing too hard. Luckily, it was at that moment and not a few before that the door flew open.

“Hey! The bus is leavin-”

“GET OUT OF THERE!” Tanaka’s voice sounded from the doorway and a phantom hand yanked a startled Ennoshita out of sight.

“Always so helpful, isn’t he?” Daichi snorted. “We should probably go.”

“Yeah.” Suga blushed. “So, does this mean…?”

Daichi took his hand and squeezed it firmly. “I liked your way best.” He kissed Suga on the nose and pulled him to the doorway, smiling all the while.

\---

Tanaka was over the moon the next time he opened his locker and nine pieces of pink paper, some adorned with stickers of ponies and rainbows, others smelling of vanilla and peaches, came tumbling out. He happily returned the favour to each one of his teammates, and called the whole mission a success.

Neither Suga nor Daichi could bring themselves to disagree.

 


End file.
